jailbird
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of jailbird
Explanation
A jailbird is someone who's been in prison or is still there. Your parents might refer to your disgraced car thief cousin a jailbird. Jailbird is a casual and derogatory term for a convicted criminal, especially one who's been in and out of jail several times. Following a prison escape, a local newspaper's headline might read "Jailbird on the Loose!" Jailbird, coined in the 17th century, equates the image of a bird in a cage with a prisoner in jail.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Costume designer Maya Edmond dresses Big Ant thematically: white tees when he’s trying to be good, black duds when his demons are winning and comic book-y jailbird stripes during his pivotal teenage arrest.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Tony Sirico, a one-time jailbird who achieved fame as mobster Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri in “The Sopranos,” died Friday, his brother the Rev. Robert Sirico said on Facebook.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 9, 2022
One of the most significant parts of the film for her is the love story between Israel and her partner in crime, a ruined jailbird dandy called Jack Hock, played by Richard E Grant.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 14, 2019
Read more: Morrissey hasn’t decided whether he will resign Morrissey urged to resign after conviction A lawmaker by day and a jailbird by night?
From Washington Post ● Dec. 18, 2014
He truly believed that even a jailbird has a constitutional right to go on television.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
